In 1845 a plague of fungus invade the potatoes fields in Ireland, leaving the majority of the population (for whom it was its main sustenance) at the feet of a horrible famine. Abandoned to its luck by the then invader English government, a fourth of the Irish people died of hungry and its consequences during the next ten years, provoking a massive emigration towards other lands. This fact is the one honored by irish composer Patrick Cassidy in a massive work of eminent religious resonances, in a hymn to all the famine victims, but also to the Irish people. The material is homogeneous, both at musical level (with the use of a traditional Irish hymn which solicits divine protection, Saint Patrick's Breastplate) as lyrics (with texts in gaelic, latin and english, as well poetic material from Lady Jane Wilde, Oscar Wilde's mother, written during the time of the terrible event). The score, as couldn't be in other way, is intimate and painfully dramatic, profoundly tonal and irish, almost like a Mass of Requiem which opens and close with a Funeral March of tragic tones. A fact historically unforgettable musicated with proper elegance and sensibility.

Terence Kelly (Sopran) - Emily Eyre (Mezzosoprao) - Gregory Hostetler (Tenor)
The Choir and Orchestra of Saint Patrick's Cathedral, New York - Conductor: John-Michael Caprio
WINDHAM HILL 01934-12402-2 / 56'

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